Arrange almond mixture on the baking tray and oven-roast for 10-15 minutes ( or until it turns darker)**

N.B: *Roast almond first until it turns brown before combining other ingredients if you are using raw almond**While roasting the almond, keep watching the oven temperature carefully as they get burn easily

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Despite the good taste, they are however lack of a tiny bits of moisture...

And easily falling apart...

Maybe i should have joined Egg? or maybe Tofu to make it firmer? Idea?

The nonsense sauce was a steal though! being too "creative" a.k.a "short of ingredients at home" (sounds well at the beginning, failed at the end, lol) , i mix matched everything i can grab from the pantry... : )

At the first glance i saw garlic!! Aha... I ever ate something-something with garlic sauce... ticked!

I wanted something sour, so yogurt works!! ticked!!

Look at the white boring colour and tasteless still sauce, i mixed dried thyme leaves (just a bit, i wanted only colour), salt & pepper, lemon juice and a dash of mustard powder (too much no good)..

And the final touch was truly fab... few drops of SESAME OIL!! i just love how sesame oil enhance the taste of this garlic sauce!!

To make it healthier, i paired the bean balls with roasted snow peas; eggplant and tomato (they were all lightly oiled; salted; pepper-ed and roasted).. the taste was just as lovely as its colour!!

The next morning, I wake up to welcome this delicious, nutritious and filling breakfast that packed with lots of protein, vitamin, fibre and other goodness... i scooped this thick and doughy porridge, and someone was calling me in the dark...

Mr.S : Honey, don't forget to give me a goodbye kiss while you leave to work later... (sleepy voice)

This bowl of goodies didn't just give me an instant energy but it also gave me an instant happiness for this whole day...

Thank you!

xoxo

P.S: the photo at the background was taken in Ngong Ping Cable Car while travelling to Hongkong in this early January.. Costs me 300 HK dollar (with other accessories), just because the sales girl said i look very pretty in this photo, lol!! *you can puke now*

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I have an obsession of watching a Singapore drama, Little Nyonya... i have watched it over and over again...

There were lists of Peranakan food had been mentioned during the drama, which attracts me to find out what are they?

One day, i was browsing on Rasa Malaysia, and discovered a Peranakan recipe which makes me so tempted to cook - Ayam Pongteh ...

Instead of using chicken, i use lean pork in this dish and it turns out allright, causing a less-meat eater like me love it so much : )

It doesn't require a complicated ingredients to cook this Babi Pongteh, i purely adapted the whole process of how Rasa Malaysia did...

However, time is required to perfect this Babi Pongteh... because of using lean pork, it takes double times to simmer the meat until tender... ( i simmered the pork for 2 hours, added water in mid-way to prevent burning, and added potatoes at the last 1 hour)...

I grow up eating porridge, until someday Porridge has become a big No-No for me... As a Teochew, my family loves cooking Plain Porridge to eat with lots of side dishes such as Pickled Vegetables; Salted Duck Egg; Braised Peanut; Fermented Tofu; Preserved Olive Leaves; and etc...

Some time my grandma even only mix the porridge with dark soya sauce...Hmmm, No-No-No-Noooooo...

She's bravo!

But when it comes to a flavoured Hongkong-style Porridge, i would say Yes-Yes!! and my favourite is which most of people will adore as well... You agree?

Century Egg and Pork Porridge

Serve 1

Ingredients

1 small bowl of cooked white rice*

1 small bowl of water* (or more, depends on personal preference)

1 Century Egg, boiled

Lean Pork slices ( i use 5 slices per serving, as i do not eat meat very much)

1/2 tsp Chicken Powder

Sesame Oil and Pepper to serve (optional)

N.B: I use the ratio 1:1 for rice and water

Method

Boil Century Egg for 5 minutes, or until it cooks, chill in a bowl of cold water

Meanwhile, add a bowl of rice together with water into a blender, blend to a finer porridge texture*

Transfer blended porridge to a pot, add in lean pork slices, simmer in low heat until it cooks

Add in seasoning (chicken powder; sesame oil and pepper), mix well

Peel century egg, quartered, or thinly sliced

Arrange on the top of the porridge

Serve warm

N.B: I use a short-cut to serve porridge, as the original way to cook porridge is using a slower-cooking method, which requires lots of hours :p

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Konnyaku usually serves in Japanese or sometimes Korean food as side or ingredients that will be added in their dishes...

Konnyaku is made from a plant - Konnyaku Potato. It is a marvellous health food among Japanese - contains 97% of water and 3% of dietary fiber which made them nominated as a wonder natural food for most Japanese...

Konnyaku can be easily found in most asian grocery in Sydney. You will see different types of konnyaku sell in the market - blocked (available in 250 gr and 500 gr); noodle types (popular named "Shirataki" or "Miracle Noodle"); white or blackish colour...

Konnyaku is popular among active dieters, becauce they are rich in minerals and provide almost no calories for consumer (note that there is still few calories contains in a block of 250 gr Konnyaku). It will expand after consuming, and keep them feeling full without indulging the extra un-wanted calories...

There are a lot of health benefits have been found in this wonderful health food - it can normalises the level of choloesterol; prevents high blood pressure and normalises the level of sugar in the blood... WOW!!

Some people might not be able to accept this tasteless Konnyaku. However there are lots of way to consume this wonderful health food. Surprisingly, Konnyaku absorb flavour easily in any kind of dishes. So, why don't include konnyaku as a part of your healthy diet : )

I decided to make Konnyaku as a refreshing side-dish...

Carrot, Corn and Konnyaku Salad

Serve 4 (as sides)

Ingredients

250 gr blocked Konnyaku

200 gr Sweet corn Kernels, juice removed (canned)

1 small Carrot, diced

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

Dash of Pepper

Corriander for garnish (optional)

Method:

Gently remove konnyaku from its packaging, drained

Slice konnyaku (approx 1 cm thick)

Cut a length in between konnyaku slices (be careful not to seperate them, we just want to create a space for twisting)

Gently twist konnyaku by grabbing one of the end of konnyaku and go through the "space" that we have created - i adapted from here

Toss konnyaku with sesame oil, light soy sauce and pepper, set aside for 15 minutes (or you can leave them over night in a air tight container)

Monday, March 12, 2012

I wanted something comforting yesterday, and w/o doubting too much i made pumpkin soup for myself... and will make them more often start from today! it was a really satisfying light dinner which has brought me to a wonderful lala land and i danced with a pumpkin head, NIGHTMARE!! (*just kid)...hehe..

I Love You, Pumpkin!!

I love chunky soup with vegie bits, so I....

﻿left some sauteed brown onion to be added in the soup, as well as some mushroom and zucchini...

I topped the soup with few of coriander leaves just because i think orange and green would be so matching... haaaa!

Butternut Pumpkin Soup

Serve 2-3 (depends on how much you love pumpkin soup)

Ingredients:

Half of medium Butternut Pumpkin (approx 1 kg on a halved pumpkin)

1 Brown Onion, diced

2 Garlic cloves, minced

2 cubes Vegetable Stock

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Dash of Pepper

Dash of Nutmeg

Water for boiling (you can adjust the water depends on how creamy you want your Pumpkin Soup to be)*

Mushroom slices (optional)

Zucchini slices (optional)

Coriander leaves for garnish (totally optional)

* i used roughly 750 ml water to simmer my pumpkin

Method:

Peel off the pumpkin skin, cubed

Bring water to boil

Add in pumpkin in a hot boiling water, simmer until pumpkin has turned soft enough

Set aside and cool down

Dice brown onion and mince garlic

Heat up oil in a pan, saute brown onion, garlic until soft, set aside (left some sauteed onion, if you like chunky soup)

Transfer the chilled pumpkin cubes together with the sauteed onion and garlic to a food processor, adjust the water depends on your personal liking, blend to puree

Transfer the pumpkin puree to a pot, boil on a medium low heat, add seasoning (vegetable cubes, pepper and nutmeg) to taste

On the other hand, prepare the zucchini slices by boiling them (optional)

Saute mushroom with the left sauteed brown onion until soft (optional)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

It doesn't taste as good as how it looks though, trying to create a healthier version of "fried-chicken", i used egg and soya flour as its coating and oven baked them until they turned golden brown...

When I bite, it was sooo tasteless.. just because I thought I have marinade the drumsticks with generous of salt; pepper; garlic and shallots over night... i imagine, IMAGINE that it will be very well-flavoured the next morning and abandoned some extra seasoning in its coating! Just egg and soy flour and then bake... i am a dumb!! hehe...

Anyway, its all gone now, because both of us, Mr.S and I have hardly shallowed for total 7 drumsticks (we ate them in 2 days time as dinner and lunch) with lotssss of chilli sauce to flatter our taste buds! lol!

Friday, March 9, 2012

So happy when i saw two boxes of products that i have ordered just last Tuesday!!

Whoever that had brought in my parcel, Thanks!!

Pampered myself with some shopping!

Marshmallow???

Nooo... They are some organic gluten-free health products purchased from Gluten Free Shop!

And some Protein Shake from Herbalife... Not consuming for weight losing purposes, just to boost up some nutrition, I have had enough with DIET!! healthy is more important than anything... BUTT not too fat ...hehehe...

if i have no time for breakfast, i will had this shake with soya milk : )

Monday, March 5, 2012

I like them raw!!! scoop the flesh directly from its skin or chopped up to whip some salad... OH HEAVEN!!!

Only me, YES!! ONLY Myself at this home who loves to eat avocado this way : )

Mr.S dislike raw avocado, he will say yikes!! he only eat them when it is blended with sweet condensed milk, drizzle with some chocolate syrup or blended with some ice cream - a typical Indonesian Avocado Smoothie... which i also adore... :p

Bowl of Goodness!

Since he no likey!! I made myself two serving for last night dinner and today lunch...

Saturday, March 3, 2012

All thanks to this rainy days, where i can spend mostly my working time to browse some goodies! Ooops!!!

All credited to this blog - Figareau Thank you!! a BIG thanks for posting up such a wonderful recipe on your blog.

I didn't own some of the ingredients listed on Figareau's blog; didn't want to spend any single penny to buy those ingredients to accomplish this dish, i omitted some,and of course added some as well : )

But i do follow every single steps from Figareau of handling the Pork Ribs...

Isn't it seductive?

"Oven Roasted" BBQ Pork Ribs

Serve 3-4

Ingredients

1 Huge Pork Loin Rib Roast (approx 1.5 kg), skinned

1 Bottle of Beer

2 Dried Chipotle Peppers (i omitted)

1 Big Red Onion, diced

5 Cloves of Garlic

Marinade and Sauce

1 cup Brown Sugar*

4 tbsp Ketchup*

4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce*

2 tbsp Worcesterchire Sauce*

Few drops Rum Essence (i couldn't get the pure Rum at that time *so sad*)**

4 tbsp Sambal ABC (ABC Chili Sauce)**

1 tsp Dry Mustard

*All of the ingredients mentioned above can be found at Figareau. I mixed the sauce based on my personal liking, it was just approximated measuring method, was just using my sixth sense that time :p

** I couldn't get the pure rum that time, in fact i did not know where to get it?? Anyone??

**Instead of Chipotle Chili Sauce, i swapped to ABC Chili Sauce as i always own one at home - is a MUST!!